Monday, October 29, 2012

Many cities were founded in a close relationship with rivers, seas or lakes. After industrialization, that link weakened, due to pollution, overcrowding or lack of interest from their inhabitants.
The so-called "waterfront development" is a contemporary attempt to return that relation water-city-to the population.

The waterfront area of Tempozan in the Osaka Bay (1990) is a well known sea side intervention in Japan. It consists of an aquarium, a museum, hotel and entertainment facilities. In this entry, I will focus on the Osaka Aquarium or Kaiyukan, one of the largest aquaria in the world. In the next post I will be commenting on Tadao Ando's Suntory Museum.

In designing an aquarium many specialists converge in an interdisciplinary work par excellence.
From architects to design its urban impact and internal space,
engineers who conceive resistant structures and determine the thickness
of acrylic tanks (in a highly seismic zone), interior designers, who contribute to offer the visitor an educational and memorable experience, to expert biologists,
ecologists, chemists and other scientists who determine the precise
characteristics of each habitat required by every species on display. About 20 companies worked for 2 ½ years to carry out the Kaiyukan Aquarium.

The result was a massive building that sits in front of a plaza that serves as an urban atrium. Such massiveness, in some degree necessary due to the function that houses, appeared to be formally fragmented,
slightly offsetting the corners of the cubic volume in both plan and elevation.

Kaiyukan literally means "Playing in the Sea Pavilion" and that is
precisely the conception of Chermayeff, Sollogub and Poole, American
architects in charge of the project.
The design explores the concept of playfulness from the very unorthodox conception of building
volume, a colorful glass topped box whose corners have been fractured as
if it were a Rubik cube.

Beyond the external volumetric treatment or the controversial colorful mosaic façade, the aquarium stands by the careful design of both the exhibition areas as well as the dramatic path that connects these recreated ecosystems.

General scheme of the aquarium.Beginning in the Japanese forests (upper left area) the visitor follows a spiral that connects the exhibition halls.

The Kaiyukan was designed to awaken an interest about the amazing biodiversity that lives in the Pacific Ocean.
Based on the Gaia Hypothesis, which proposes that the Earth is a living
organism in which all creatures and volcanic activity are interrelated, the Aquarium presents a sample of life at sea in the Ring of Fire in 15 vast rooms.

After crossing an impressive entry hall 11 m long, surrounded by water, Chermayeff included an escalator that transports visitors to the
highest and more illuminated point, which houses a Japanese forest.

From there, a spiral circulation descends, connecting the various display areas, and increasingly entering into the seabed habitats. The lighting and interior design help to provide a experience between the visitor and the colorful, vivid and diverse fauna and flora displayed, including many examples from the equatorial forests to the Antarctic. The various tanks corresponding to each of ecosystems are shown in clear and sequential order.

In the photos, I show only two of the most impressive specimens: a stingray and some giant Japanese spider crabs, (note the size of people in the back)

Thanks to the fine interdisciplinary work mentioned earlier, it was possible to reproduce the ideal conditions that allow these delicate species, survive and reproduce.

In an impressive technical display, the Kaiyukan Aquarium succeeds in
amalgamating entertainment and education, research and culture in an
innovative and functional design. From an urban point of view, the colorful, massive and aggressive volume of the aquarium contrasts with that of the Suntory Museum, designed by renowned architect Tadao Ando .

I will comment on that building in the next post. Meanwhile I leave you with a sunset Osaka Bay, seen from the Tempozan square.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

ESPAÑOLCordoba, Spain, is a charming town on the banks of the Guadalquivir River.A
melting pot of cultures that produced its urban fabric, in its exquisite courtyards, its fused architecture and its fine art, dating back from millennia.

Cordoba's picturesque streets, with the tower of the cathedral in the background

Typical Andalusian patioPhoto courtesy of Janette Simplina

Having
been inhabited by Iberians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans
and Visigoths, the city developed largely in the Middle Ages, under the coexistence of Muslims, Jews and Christians.

Remains of Roman temple in CordobaPhoto Carlos Zeballos

It was during the Islamic rule that Cordoba became a gravitating center
of Islamic culture in the area of ​​Al-Andalus, where arts, literature, philosophy, medicine, chemistry, and other activities flourished .

Statue of Ben Maimonides, a noted philosopher, physician and theologian

THE GREAT MOSQUE

The
most notable expression of Moorish architecture is the Great Mosque of
Cordoba, whose orthogonal geometry contrasts with the intricate streets
that make up the urban layout of Córdoba, and whose harmonic and rich
decoration shines under a masterful play of light.

The Great Mosque is the result of many modifications and additions through the centuries.It
is believed that it was originally a Roman temple, but the truth is
that it was a Visigoth church, the Basilica of Saint Vicent. In 751 the Emir Abd al-Rahman I bought some area of the church to accomodate his own place of prayer
(for some time Christians and Muslims share the same place of worship).Successive
interventions by Abd al-Rahman II in the ninth century, Al Hakam II and
Almanzor in the tenth century enhanced the mosque to the size that we know
today.In the sixteenth century, Bishop Alonso Manrique turned the mosque into a cathedral.

THE TOWER OR MINARET

The minaret is a tower located in a courtyard, from which a muezzin calls Muslims to prayer. The original minaret was in the midst of the current Court of the Oranges and was built by Hixam I. When the courtyard was enlarged, the tower was destroyed and a new one was built in the tenth century The current tower, called the Cathedral, was made in the seventeenth century, practically wrapping the old minaret .

The tower of the Cathedral from the Patio of the NaPhoto Carlos Zeballos

The entrance to the complex is given through the Gate of Forgiveness (Puerta del Perdón), where forgave pilgrims were publicly forgiven.

THE COURT OF THE ORANGES

Mosques have two parts: the sahn or courtyard that features a tower called minaret and the masjid or prayer hall. Behaving as a transition space between the space of the street and the sacred
area of ​​the mosque, this court is named after its orange trees,
arranged in a grid layout. This space was where the faithful wash before entering the Grand Mosque. In the middle there is a fountain that is said to concede marriage to whoever drinks from its waters.

The Court of the oranges or sahn, a transition space before entering the temple.Image courtesy of CVC

THE FIRST MOSQUE

The original mosque, with capacity for 5,000 people, made by Abd
al-Rahman I, consisted of 11 oblong naves ending in the qibla, a wall
pointing towards Mecca (though this wall is oriented a little further
south). This building system was based on a series of arches and columns arranged in two rows. At the bottom are located some horseshoe arches, on which are superimposed semi-circular arches. This technique could give more height to the naves while allowing transparency and spatial communication between them.
This system was based on the great Roman aqueducts and in the horseshoe arches, typical of the Visigoths, but here in Cordoba achieved a unique combination. The pillars are decorated with corbels on their front.
Since, as we said, this mosque was built over a church, and many of the
materials were recycled elements, it is possible to observe dissimilar capitals and
columns. Its unique two-color pattern is due to the use of alternating voussoirs of brick and limestone.

Arches of horseshoe archesPhoto Carlos Zeballos

THE FIRST ENLARGEMENT

To make the first enlargement in 832, Abd al-Rahman II demolished the
mosque qibla and extended it towards the river, building also, as
mentioned, the first minaret. The original floor was rammed earth mixed with clay called red ocher.

In 855 Muhammad I remodeled the San Esteban Gate, whose arc is
finished with a molding called alfiz, which was subsequently frequently repeated.

St. Stephen's Gate

THE SECOND ENLARGEMENT

It was also made towards the Guadalquivir in 962 by al-Hakam II, who enlarged the prayer
room, this time using new (not recycled) elements in its construction.
Its expansion is a "visual settings and morphologically complex configuration of forms that are located on a connection between past and future" (Khoury, 1996).

He expanded the patio and for that purpose he knocked down the old minaret to build a new one.
Also he included a large library with a huge hall for copyists (who copied
books since printing was not invented yet) The horseshoe arches, whose concept had been
used previously, are redefined with intricate designs, intersecting each other and producing polylobed forms.

Spectacularly carved arches.Photo Carlos Zeballos

Facing the qibla wall there is a small room lavishly decorated with marble and fine carvings called mihrab, before which the Quran was read.

In turn, ribbed vaults intertwine defining an octagonal space, covered by a dome.

The arch of the mihrab and the dome are covered with fine mosaics of Byzantine influence (as the Romans used mosaics preferably on the floor)

Maqsura section.Image courtesy Nuha N.Kouri

THE THIRD ENLARGEMENT

In 987 Almanzor, unable to continue growing towards the river, decided to
enlarge the complex to the east, adding eight new naves and expanding the
patio. The arches in this area are painted. With this extension the mosque reached a capacity of 25,000 people. The horseshoe arch is predominant, also richly decorated.

THE CHRISTIAN CATHEDRAL

Using a mixture of styles between the Islamic and Christian, in a style
called Mudejar, numerous modifications took place in the mosque in order to be used as a cathedral.

The expansion made in the sixteenth century by Bishop Alonso Manrique
destroyed parts of the mosque, especially the expansion of Abd al-Rahman
II, despite opposition from neighbors and the council of Córdoba (even
threatening with death penalty whoever dared to work in the construction). In the end, King Charles I authorized the Bishop ... big mistake, as the king, when he saw the works of the cathedral said:

"If
I had known what it was, I would not have allowed to touch the old parts,
since you have done what exists in many other parts and have destroyed what was unique".

The cathedral, in cross plan, was executed by architect Hernán Ruiz, and
subsequently by his son and grandson, who built the chapel and the transept. Particularly remarkable are the Altarpiece, richly made in red marble, and the chorus of the canons. Both carved wooden pulpits and the chairs are made of mahogany brought from Cuba.

After the fall of Cordoba in 1236, the mosque was preserved as a cultural value by the kings of Castile and became an architectural and aesthetic reference that would eventually be transferred to the New World.

The undulating surfaces receive visitors extending their arms as an organism that seems to be about to take flight.
However, from a distance, particularly from the parking lot as well as from inside the
garden, the building's profile topography that emulates the surrounding mountains.

All circulations lead to central hall, stressing the centralized composition of this building which assumes a flower shape layout.
The skylight, that is also evident in the facade composition, appears
as focal element of the space, and is accompanied by a cylindrical moving screen that
protects the lobby from excessive sunlight.

The building, although it is the gateway to the Botanical Garden, also
functions as an autonomous entity including education (library and
workshops), artistic (showrooms) and commercial (a shop and a cafeteria) facilities,
which are freely accessible without the need of entering the garden. However, the visual integration of the building with the garden is open and permeable.

What is less clear is the relationship with the visitor centre's green roof. As discussed priorly,
the garden extends to the roof of the building, which not only
provides a habitat for various species that live in it, but also
has an effect on the climate control inside the building, especially in
summer.

This relationship is not evident to the public directly, and in fact I had
to climb on the wall to take the pictures of the roof garden shown in this post.

The building exhibits frankly its constituent materials, primarily wood,
glass and metal, as well as the so-called "concrete ground" or "eco-concrete", which
although correspond to particularly differentiated formal
elements such as ceiling, windows and walls, they maintain a balanced and suggestive harmony.
But it is also important that you do not see, the
technology used to make this a state-of-the-art sustainable building.

MY ARCHITECTURAL MOLESKINE

MY ARCHITECTURAL MOLESKINE

Notes on the fly throughout an exciting journey, a logboof of emotions and senses while walking between architectural spaces bathed in light, surrounded by landscape, or being part of it.

Just like in a moleskine - that notebook where travelers compiled writings and drawings of their visits- this blog offers you, dear reader, my own collection based on my personal experience about interesting sites visited in recent years.

Welcome to My Architectural Moleskine

"What I hear, I forget; what I read, I remember; what I do, I learn; what I teach, I know."

Old Chinese proverb.

About me

Architect and urban designer, professor in universities in Peru and Russia. Post PhD. researcher on urban design and landscape in Japan. Earned his PhD in Urban Environmental Planning at Kyoto University, Japan and Master degrees in Sustainability in Argentina and Environmental Management in Peru.

The texts, graphics and photos, unless otherwise stated, belong to the author of this blog.They may be used for personal and academic purposes, as long as the respective authors and source are acknowledged.Its use is not allowed for commercial purposes.